The Greatest Fear
by dont fail
Summary: Avery Paige is willing to kill the only person who tore her life apart, her father, Tom Riddle. Once asked to work at Hogwarts she finds love in a cold hearted man, Severus Snape. Her power seems to keep them apart for awhile, but love prevails in the end
1. Acceptance

The taste of vomit entered her mouth as she stared at the old headmaster of Hogwarts. She knew why she was there, and she wasn't too sure if she was happy about her arrival at night. She was not free-spirited growing up, and she admired the children her age as they could run freely around their streets and ride toy brooms to the park. Avery, now 19, lived a very sheltered life. Growing up her mother tried to provide for her as much as she could, under their circumstances. Dark brown hair swooped in front of her face as she bowed her head in the awkward silence.

"Do you realize, Avery that you are in grave danger?" Albus Dumbledore said as he peered over his half moon glasses. His voice was soft and tender, yet she knew he was very concerned about her.

"Yes, Professor, I do realize this. Yet, I am willing to fight. My powers have grown since the last time you have seen me. I learned to control the uncontrollable. I am more great then him." She whispered sadly. She didn't want her lifestyle. She never asked to have her gifts, she wish she never acquired them.

"If he ever finds out, he will search for you. I understand that your mother is safe in the muggle world?" Albus said as he turned his head to look outside his office window.

"Oh yes, she lives in a small town. She is very safe, she keeps to herself. Mother has always been that way, she has to be..." She bit her lip in fear of going on. She hated herself, she honestly did. Her bright green eyes were glossy, her puffy light pink lips were slightly scarred, from always biting down nervously, and her long dark brown hair was shiny and beautiful. She was a gorgeous girl, and she was so young, and she was so powerful.

"Tell me, my dear. Have you seen anything out of the normal lately? I'm sure he feels your strength."

"No. He believes I am dead, you know this, Professor."

Albus pulled his old body out of his large thrown and paced around his desk.

"I called you here tonight, Avery, in hopes you will join our staff here at Hogwarts. I contacted your mother about your wellbeing, and she agrees fully that you should stay here for awhile. She thinks you working here will show you that there is more to life then a small cabin. The staff knows that you are here tonight, and most of them are eager to meet you. I know that you keep to yourself, and that is fully up to you. But I am asking you to stay here, stay safe, and teach." Albus turned to her and smiled; He really was looking out for her wellbeing.

"I do not want to study children, Sir. I do not want to help children transform a monkey into a goblet, or teach potions, or teach the dark magic. If I teach here I would like to start a new subject." Avery's eyes went red for a second and she stood.

"A new subject? We have the subjects we need here at Hogwarts. I was thinking along the lines of joining transfiguration."

"I want to teach art."

"Muggle art?" Albus smiled and chuckled at the thought. No one has ever presented such an idea about a class.

Avery licked her lips nervously before going on, "Yes, muggle art. It's very different from wizard art, muggle art doesn't move, and you must be patient with it."  
Avery watched as the headmaster thought for a few moments, then a broad smile crossed his face.

"Wonderful. Your idea is amazing, my dear. But first, we must have a meeting with the staff to see if they agree or not. Most will agree, I believe."  
She nodded her head; he had accepted her idea of a class! Avery smiled at her elder before sighing. She clicked her fingers together and a bright blue flame erupted in the middle of her palm.

Albus started at her in amazement. He had never seen such an odd gift given to such a young girl. He watched as Avery played with the blue flame before making a fist and the flame disappeared.

"You are, one of a kind, Avery Paige. I am still amazed at what you are capable of." Albus said as he walked over to the standing girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome to the team of Hogwarts. You will do fine. The students will love you." He smiled and walked over to his desk and sat down in his large thrown.

"We must have you sorted first. To figure out which house you should be put in."

"Yes, I remember." She smiled and sat down as well.

Albus stood up and picked up the dusty ripped hat and walked over to her. The hat began to move and spoke wildly.

"You live in the cross bounds of live and death. You should not be walking as a witch, nor be floating as a ghost. A house is not fit for your nature, and your talents far exceed most." The sorter went dead silent, and Albus looked at her strangely.  
"Apparently you can not be placed into a house." He said as he placed the hat back on its stand. "This is very odd, as no one has ever not been placed into a house. You are different, and as the hat said you are in the cross bound between life and death." Avery stared at him very confused.

"Sir, what does that mean?" She said as she looked over to the hat. That damn hat was a stupid piece of shit and she never liked it, even growing up. Her first experience with the hat was almost as bad as the one she was having at the moment.

"The sorter was trying to say that you are not supposed to be alive, nor are you supposed to be dead. You should have died that night your father tried killing you, and yet you did not. You overcame death and overcame life."  
"So, I'm alive yet dead?" She laughed and thought about that for a moment.

"Oh no. You cannot be killed easily, and yet, you cannot live easily. It is a very complicated thing to describe, and I'm not too sure as to why the sorter could not efficiently put you in a house."

"That stupid hat never was able to put me in a house. I was the only damn student that stood there without a house until Professor Welching took me into his house."  
"Slytherin was a good house for you, yet you could have been placed into any house. But as this was all said tonight, we must sleep on it all." Albus said as he stood up and opened his office door. "Sleep tight, Miss. Paige."

And that was that, she stood outside his door after her abrupt dismissal and thought about her crazy night. The thought came to her mind as to where she was supposed to sleep. Fear rose over her, sleeping on the stairs would not be good, and seeing her in a bad mood would be even worse. She pounded loudly on his door and it swung open.

"Yes, I forgot as well. You will be staying in the east chambers. Room five." He smiled at her then shut the door again; what a help he was.

Avery walked through the dark hallways of Hogwarts until she found the east chambers. The number five door had a large black brass door that had a large peacock doorknocker. She sighed and then opened the door, and found herself in such a beautiful room her breath was caught in her throat. The room was lit by many candles; pictures of white peacocks were arranged around the entrance walls. A large white carpet rug stretched from in front of the door and led its way into another room. She followed the carpet into the next room which came to be a large sitting room. White couches with gold trimming were placed around the room and an oversized chair sat next to the blazing fire. A large circular rug was placed in the middle of the room with a coffee table onto of it. The walls were painted a warm vanilla color, and the walls were once again filled with peacock paintings, yet most of the peacocks in these paintings were colorful. She walked out of the sitting room and found herself in a large bedroom. In the middle of the room stood a beautiful dark wood four poster bed; silk white bed sheets and quilt were placed onto of the bed, and a large trunk stood at the base of the bed. She walked over to the trunk and saw that this was the trunk she had brought along with her on her journey to Hogwarts. Two oversized bed stands stood on both sides of the bed, and a large dresser stood on the opposite wall with a large mirror connected to it. Tall windows stood proudly against the warm painted walls, and were dressed beautifully with white lace curtains. A smile crossed Avery's face at the sight of her bedroom. A door stood at the very end of the room, and she gladly trotted over to it. The door was glass, and had carvings of mermaids engraved onto it. She smiled and pushed the door open and found herself in a bathroom the size of a locker room. At her right was a large bathtub that sat inside the ground, it reminded her of a large pool. Faucets stood proudly next to the bath tub and were covered in all types of rubies. On the other side of the bathroom was a toilet that looked like a thrown, and on the other wall was the vanity with a large mirror. White fluffy towels hung on the walls by the beaks of what looked like large birds, and a large light green rug was placed in the middle of the bathroom. Many portraits of mermaids were placed around the room; each mermaid had different colored hair and two of the mermaids had a different colored skin tone.

Avery never experienced such a place in her entire life. Teachers sure did live in luxury, and now she was glad she had become a teacher.

She undressed and placed her clothes in a chair in her bedroom and passed out in her soft bed.


	2. Classes

Avery woke the next morning with a smile on her face. She sat up in her large bed and looked around her room. It seemed that the room was more beautiful during the day then at night. She had overlooked a few things the night before, as a large wardrobe stood against the far wall of the room.

She pulled herself out of the bed and stretched. This was her first full day as a teacher, and it was going to be very interesting. She bathed and dressed herself and made her way out into the school hallway where she bumped into Professor McGonagall.

"Oh dear! Look who it is, Miss Paige herself. I have been waiting a long time to meet you. I am so pleased to hear you took up Albus' offer to work here!" Minerva gushed and shook Avery's hand.

"I am pretty excited to be here, my room is GORGEOUS! I never knew Hogwarts had rooms like this!" Avery exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh, just to inform you dear, there will be no meeting about your class. Albus decided to just let you teach because he figures you will be great at it. Oh, and yes the rooms here are to die for, I completely understand. Are you going to breakfast? If so, I will join you." Minerva said as they walked down a large hallway. "Hogwarts has many secrets, some known, but most unknown. Every teacher lives in this hallway, each has their own room, and each room is completely different. What is your rooms theme?" Minerva said as she looked over at the young girl as the passed a large pig that had a bright fire burning on the inside of its mouth.

"Peacocks, they are beautiful. There are tons of pictures of them and I guess that could be why my room is pure white." Avery nodded at her choice of words.

"That room was picked especially for you, love. That room was just another dead room waiting for its next guest to live in it."

"What does that mean?"

"Everyday before this day I would walk past room 5 and see a big black brass door, there is nothing special with the room before someone lives in it. If I was to walk into the room to see what was held inside of it, I would be met with nothing. The room is completely empty until it is told a guest shall be sleeping there. The room sees you as its next roommate and transforms itself into you. Well, not exactly you. But your purity, your interest, and your personality. As long as you live and work at Hogwarts, this is your room. The room will not change form until it has been told you have left the grounds forever. No one could alter this room besides you, which I guess is a good thing. But for someone to walk into your room unannounced would be very traumatic, for the room would show the new guest no hospitality." Minerva went on. "A few years back we accepted a new teacher, Professor Shire, into Hogwarts; she was such a lovely lady but had a terrible attitude. She was given room one to live in, but she was not satisfied with what was given to her. She began to alter the room beyond belief. The walls were turned to soft fabric, and the floor that was once marble was now a shag rug, the windows were turned into smaller windows, the ceiling was lowered, and so much more. I mean this lady actually tried changing everything that was given to her. Well, let's just say that the room was not happy and kicked her out with her belongings. Literally. She was then moved into room seven and stayed there for awhile. A few days later she left Hogwarts saying that what she went through was completely wrong and she would not tolerate it. It seems that room one and room seven were good friends, and room seven was the room she was given once she was booted from the other room, but room seven did the same thing as soon as she changed a picture frame." Minerva shook her head and looked over at Avery as they stepped onto a moving staircase.

"So my room is made for me?" She said as a smile came across her face.

"Oh yes, that room is you. You are that room."

The staircase stopped moving and they walked off the stairs and into the Great Hall.

Avery had always loved the Great Hall; she always thought it brought everyone together. Her and Professor McGonagall walked up to the teachers table and sat down. On Avery's right sat a black haired man with a large nose and on her left sat a miniature man.

"Good morning everyone!" Dumbledore announced raising his arms in what seemed to be a large hugging motion. "Today is a rather special day! We have gained ourselves a new teacher! Our new teacher, Professor Paige, will be teaching a new subject called Arts. Professor Paige will be teaching the sixth years, and yes I'm sorry to everyone else." Albus said as he heard whines from the younger students. "We have handpicked those who will be apart of her class, which means your unnecessary free time will be taken up with Arts. As this is said, give a welcoming hand to Professor Paige." Albus said as he turned to her and started clapping, her ears rang as the Great Hall erupted in applause. She stood and waved to everyone and quickly took her seat. She leaned over to her right and spoke to the male teacher next to her.

"Are these children friendly?" She asked nervously.

"They are almost as friendly as death." The man added with a smirk as he looked down at the young teacher.

The look her gave her made her tremble.

What a horrible man! She thought to herself as she began to eat the food that appeared in front of her.

It seemed that as fast as the food appeared, it disappeared. And that was that, and that's when the classes started.

She pulled herself from the table and groaned; it really did feel like she gained ten pounds.

Avery managed to find her classroom with much help from students. She was located in the highest tower possible, and it was stuffy as ever.

Her room was very open, with large windows placed around the room. Tons of pictures she had painted over the years were placed all over the walls, and even a large liger she had seen in a muggle ad was painted on the ceiling. Dark cheery wood desks were placed randomly around the room, about thirty easels lined the walls, and tons cabinets were filled of paint tubes and paint brushes.

This was her classroom; this was where her domain was now.

Students began to fill the room soon after she and a few of her helpers had arrived, and they seemed very alarmed at what was presented in front of them.

"Good morning, everyone, well uh, please line up and lets do some sort of roll call?" Avery's voice cracked under her nerves and she could see a few boys smirk. Soon the class was in a large line, and calling out their names to their new teacher who marked a piece of parchment after each name was said.

"Dean Thomas." A dark skinned boy said as he smiled at Avery.

"Lee Jordan." Another dark skinned boy said, but without a friendly smile.

"Lavender Brown! Hi!" A cheerful young witch said as she bounced on her heals and waved. "Hello." Avery said with a fake smile.

"Seamus Finnegan."

"You mean semen." A blond boy in the back said in a low whisper, but a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Detention, grease head." Avery snapped as she looked at Draco Malfoy. She pressed on, "Who are you? Are you a first year, you sure do look like it. Small and skinny, haven't grown an inch since you came here, have you?" Avery smirked at Draco as his pale skin turned pink.

"Actually, my name is Draco, Draco Malfoy." Draco said in a forceful voice.

"Oh, Mister Tough ass, now are we? Well Draco Malfoy, you get two weeks worth of detention. Oh, and another thing grease head, I do not tolerate rude remarks. Or, rude behavior. You will be helping the house elves in the kitchen, cleaning up the dirty dishes, by hand." Avery smirked as his face fell. "That's right, the first time you ever used your hands, because I'm sure your dick is so small you can't even touch it." Avery grinned as she saw how angry he was becoming. Laughter broke out in the classroom and this made her smile.

"As I was saying, rude behavior will not be tolerated or rude remarks, unless from me, will not be tolerated as well. My rules are set from this day forth, until the end of the school year. If you have any complaints about my rules please, talk to Albus Dumbledore, I'm sure he would love to have a nice chit chat about this." She pressed on. "Since I was rudely interrupted by a young grease head in the back, named Draco Malfoy, I shall continue learning everyone's name, again. Unless you have something to say, small dick?" Avery looked over at him and saw him shake his head.

"Alright. Who is next?" Avery said as she looked back down at her parchment.

"Ronald Weasley." A red hair boy said as he gave a crooked smile.

"Harry Potter." She never looked up, she knew he was next. She gave a nod and wrote his name after Ron's.

"Hermione Granger." A bushy haired girl said as she smiled.

"Luna Lovegood." "Neville Longbottom" "Cormac McLaggen" "Parvati Patil" "Katie Bell" "Cho Chang" "Vincent Crabbe" "Gregory Goyle" "Draco Malfoy." The names felt like they just kept coming and coming. Finally everyone said their names and she looked up at her class.

After an hour and a half of teaching her students about art and what makes muggle art so beautiful, a loud bell rang out. The students said good evening and left the stuffy classroom.


	3. Anger, perhaps?

Avery's stomach growled as she made her way back to her room. Thoughts rang through her head as she passed many teachers who were undoubtedly headed back to their headquarters before dinner. Today had seemed way too long for her liking, and she really did enjoy her class. Her students were wonderful, except for three, and they seemed to really enjoy the concept of creating muggle art.

As Avery approached her door she heard feet moving directly behind her. She spun on her heals and came face to face with her table partner, Severus Snape.

"So, I hear that you made a mockery out of my top student, Miss Avery." Snape glared and folded his arms over his chest. An angry look crossed Avery's face and her eyes flickered red.

"You're top student? If you are talking about Mr. Malfoy, then I have no remorse about what was said and done. And I am a fellow colleague; call me either Avery, or Professor." Avery snapped as she looked up at the man. She felt his eyes burning into hers and this made her uncomfortable, but she didn't care, she was a strong witch and she could hold her ground.

"For you to taunt a student like that is unacceptable."

"So you're one to talk about taunting? I have heard stories about you, PROFESSOR, and if you think you're such a nice bloke about students then you are mistaken. I hear you favor your own house, which is completely unfair. Everyone should be treated the same, and for you to approach me telling me I made a mockery out of your top student is completely out of line." The torches that hung from the hallway flickered and the ground seemed to shake as Avery's eyes turned fully red. Severus looked around worried but never backed down.

"Cancel his detention."

"Excuse me?" Avery laughed harshly. The floor was defiantly trembling now, and teachers began to sprint towards their room as they saw Avery and Severus fighting.

"I said, cancel his detention. For he did nothing wrong."

"I will not. That is that, I made my choice. He will help clean up the dishes in the kitchen with the house elves, by hand. And if he does not show up, or does not clean the dishes by hand, I will make sure he does other detentions that are much worse." And at that, Avery slammed her hands together and she disappeared out of sight. The once trembling floor and flickering torches ceased at once, and Severus was left there alone.

Dinner arrived faster then usual it felt like, and Avery made her way out of her room and into the hallway. Teachers flocked to her at once, questions about what had happened earlier were being tossed around, and she seemed to not hear what was being said. She heard a yell and saw the teachers back off.

"Away with you! Leave her alone, there is no need to question her as if she had murdered somebody!" Minerva said as she pushed her fellow colleagues away from Avery.

"Don't mind them dear, no one has ever been able to put Severus in his place, well, besides Albus that is." Minerva smiled. "Don't worry, he'll lighten up. He feels threatened by you're presence here."  
"He is an asshole, and if he wants to duel fairly, then we shall arrange one." Avery said as her eyes never moved to look over at her colleague.

"Oh dear, there is no use for that. I'm sure Severus is just threatened because you are much greater then him, not to mention gorgeous." She smiled as she saw the girls head turn to look at her.

"I am born from a murderer, for one to say that about me is appalling. My father has killed thousands, I am his blood, beauty does not reside in me." Avery said in a low voice.

"You put too much pressure on you. He may have helped birthed you, but he is not a father to you. He was not there for you." Minerva sighed as Avery sped up into the Great Hall without saying another word. Minerva stared as Avery walked quickly up to the table, she was sure that the girls hair was burning at the ends.

"Have you ever heard of the Foundation of Harold?" Professor Flitwick said to Avery as they ate dinner together. "The foundation was made many decades ago, and it was made to keep small poor families nourished. It's a beautiful charity, and it has saved so many families from starvation. I donate every chance I can get." Food was spattering everywhere as the professor ate and talked at the same time.  
"No one really cares about your pity stories." Severus said with a snap, he was clearly annoyed with hearing about the charity cases Professor Flitwick took part in.

The food that was in front of Avery burst into flames and Severus' plate broke in half, sending glass everywhere. The once loud hall was quiet, and every eye bore upon the staff table.

Avery turned forcefully to the professor and snarled. "I care about his PITY charity stories. Just because you have no heart doesn't mean everyone else does too." With that statement she fled from the hall and found herself sprawled out on her large bed.


	4. Change of the heart?

Just like every night Avery was abruptly awoken from her deep sleep. It seemed that she never could sleep a full night without the constant nightmares that plagued her dreams. It was always the same dream as well; sitting in a well furnished room watching her mother bicker with a cloaked figure. It was small talk at first, quiet arguments were a frequent thing when she was around, then almost immediately the sound of her mother screaming sounded through the large manor. The cloaked figure she knew as her father would round the corner and stare at his offspring, a small smile creeping upon is handsome face. She watched as he fingered his white wand before brining it up to her face, pointing it between her eyes. A cold whisper erupted from the quiet room, "I hoped you would have been a son, you know. I just did not want a daughter, for you could never carry the legacy I would have stowed upon you, my dearest Avery." With that, a flash of green erupted the room and there laid the small child, probably around three years of age. A scream was heard, and that was it. That's how her nightly visions went every night she went to bed. It seemed that these nightmares came more frequently when she thought about who she was.

Sleeping just did not seem very helpful at the moment, so she threw back her white sheets and climbed from her bed. Once her bare feet hit the floor she walked across the room until she opened the large wardrobe and pulled out a fitting black robe. Carelessly she threw the cloak over her ribbon-trimmed chemise and slipped on her quilted knee-high black stretched boot.

Slowly she made her way out of her room and into the dark hallway. A cold breeze hit with knives, it was around mid-November at the time.

As she made her way from the teachers sleeping chambers she heard a voice call out from the distance; "keep your head up high! For you will one day be MIIINNNNE!" Whoever was singing this late at night either had to be out of his mind or had to be drunk.

As Avery followed the voice that boomed through the quiet castle she found herself watching a man clad in black robes trying to climb down the stairs. "No one will love you baby, no one will love you like MEE!" She giggled to herself as she watched Severus Snape grab onto the banister as he tried to descend down the stairs, but much to his avail, he fell and landed smack on his rear. Avery sighed at his failed attempt to hit solid ground, so she slowly walked over to the very drunk potions teacher.

"Need any help there?" Avery said as she walked up to the stairs and looked up at the man who held a heart of ice.

"Come to save the day, dear? I'm just fine!" He said angrily as he pushed his black hair from his eyes.

"If falling down the stairs from being stupid drunk is fine, then you are doing a great job at setting an example for the students here." She smirked as she watched the teacher trying to comprehend her words.

"It's almost twelve o'clock! All students are in they're sleeping chambers!" He snarled as he tried to push himself off the step, but his unsteady body fell right back down.

"Twelve? You must be mistaken sir, but it's almost three in the morning. What have you been drinking, by chance? You need to sober up to sleep."

"Three in the morning? Are you sure? I don't think so, for I just decided to take a lovely stroll through the castle. I left my quarters at twelve, not three. And, why are you out?" He looked up with his glassy black eyes.

She laughed at him and smiled. "Your silly, its is three. In your drunken state you must have been walking for three hours, thinking it's only been a few minutes. I'm up for personal reason. Let's get you back to your chambers." She pushed her dark hair behind her ear and grabbed his arm in an attempt to raise the drunken man.

"NO! I can do it myself little lady. You are too weak to help me."  
Anger ran through her body and she dropped his arm as if she was burned.

"Fine, get your own ass up by yourself. I'd love to see you try, asshole." She snarled.

Once again, he failed at trying to raise himself off the steps at stared at her sheepishly.

"Okay, I can't get up myself. Care to help an old goon?" He sighed as he held out a hand. With a smirk on her face she grabbed his hand and helped him up.

"Next time you drink, stay in your room. I really do not want to ever help you like this again." She said softly as she wrapped her arm around his waist as she directed him back to his quarters.

"You really are a wise ass, Avery. I'm sorry my habits don't seem to fit your lifestyle." He slurred and griped her shoulder.

"Why do you drink?" She said as she looked up into his dark depths.

"I was just in a relationship, and it seems that she rather spread her legs to every man around." He hissed angrily.

"Who was she? Why would she sleep around?" She was rather curious as to why a woman would ever sleep around when they had a man like him.

"Her name was Emily. And why would she sleep around? Probably because I cannot see her as much as she wished. But I have a full time job! It's not like I can drop everything and see her. Stupid bitch, I cannot believer he." He was practically growling at his last statement.

"Did you love her?" Avery said quietly as she looked up once more at his dark face.

"Love? Ha. Funny. Who could ever love me? A man of many mysteries I am! Never good enough for anyone it seems!" She could hear the sarcasm dripping in his voice. "What about you, Avery? No love knocking on your doorstep either it seems." He added as he looked down at her. What a beautiful girl, young yet so beautiful.

"I was in a relationship. Seems that he had better things to do then be with me. I'm not good enough for a man. No man would ever want to be with me. How could I possibly be with a man when I have so many secrets to hide from him?" She said coolly as they approached his door.

"Any man who changes his mind being with you, is a foolish man at that!" He slurred.

"How sweet, Sir Snape. Go to bed and sleep your drunk away." She smiled at him before opening his door to his chambers.

Severus nodded and stepped into his chambers. He stared at the young women before adding, "I don't hate you Avery. You just seem to tick me off sometimes. Your dominating presence is too much for me to handle, so I lash out. Don't take it so offensively." His face was blank, then he nodded and shut the door. Avery was left there in complete confusion. A small laugh escaped her lips and she headed back to her room.


End file.
